The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to mammographic image processing and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to systems and methods for automated detection of malignancy in a mammographic image.
Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in the US and the third highest cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In the US over 230,000 new diagnoses and approximately 40,000 deaths occur annually, for example, as described with reference to American Cancer Society, “Cancer Facts & Figures 2015,” Cancer Facts Fig. 2015, pp. 1-9, 2015. Regular mammography screening has been attributed with doubling the rate of early cancer detection and has been credited with decreasing breast cancer mortality by up to 30% over the past three decades, for example, as described with reference to B. Lauby-Secretan, C. Scoccianti, D. Loomis, L. Benbrahim-Tallaa, V. Bouvard, F. Bianchini, and K. Straif, “Breast-cancer screening—viewpoint of the IARC Working Group.,” N. Engl. J. Med., vol. 372, no. 24, pp. 2353-8, 2015, and A. M. Kavanagh, G. G. Giles, H. Mitchell, and J. N. Cawson, “The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of screening mammography and symptomatic status.,” J. Med. Screen., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 105-10, 2000. Yet estimates of mammographic accuracy in the hands of experienced radiologists remains suboptimal with sensitivity ranging from 62-87% and specificity from 75-91% for example, as described with reference to A. M. Kavanagh, G. G. Giles, H. Mitchell, and J. N. Cawson, “The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of screening mammography and symptomatic status.,” J. Med. Screen., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 105-10, 2000, C. D. Lehman, R. D. Wellman, D. S. M. Buist, K. Kerlikowske, A. N. A. Tosteson, D. L. Miglioretti, and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, “Diagnostic Accuracy of Digital Screening Mammography With and Without Computer-Aided Detection.,” JAMA Intern. Med., vol. 175, no. 11, pp. 1828-37, November 2015, N. S. Winkler, S. Raza, M. Mackesy, and R. L. Birdwell, “Breast density: clinical implications and assessment methods.,” Radiographics, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 316-24, 2015, T. M. Kolb, J. Lichy, and J. H. Newhouse, “Comparison of the Performance of Screening Mammography, Physical Examination, and Breast US and Evaluation of Factors that Influence Them: An Analysis of 27,825 Patient Evaluations,” Radiology, vol. 225, no. 1, pp. 165-175, October 2002, and K. Kerlikowske, R. A. Hubbard, D. L. Miglioretti, B. M. Geller, B. C. Yankaskas, C. D. Lehman, S. H. Taplin, and E. A. Sickles, “Comparative effectiveness of digital versus film-screen mammography in community practice in the United States: A cohort study,” Ann. Intern. Med., vol. 155, no. 8, pp. 493-502, 2011.